Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Headphones are a common type or wearable audio component and various forms of headphones are available and have been developed to offer varying degrees of portability and include different ways of being worn by the users thereof. In general, headphones include one or more speakers or other audio sources positioned in one or more housings. Typically, two housings are employed that can be worn in proximity to each of the respective ears of the user. In one example, some types of headphones include two such housings configured with cups or pads that fit over or on the user's ears and are secured together and against the ears or head of the user by a resiliently-deformable band.
Other types of headphones that can be referred to as earbud or in-ear headphones, include generally smaller audio components secured in housings that can be made to be small enough to engage independently with the respective ears of the user. Such headphones can be structured to engage with the ear in a number of different ways, examples of which include engaging with particular features of the outer ear and/or extension of a portion thereof into the opening or transition area between the outer ear and the ear canal. Because of the wide variation in the particular structure and size of ears among the general population, the ability to fit a wide range of people with a single earbud or in-ear headphone structure can present challenges. Further, size considerations, including for example, the size needed to achieve the desired fit and positioning with the ear and/or weight considerations can result in balancing between acceptable fit and a desired level of sound quality. In some examples, fit can be improved using smaller structures, but such smaller structures can compromise sound quality.
Computing devices such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, cellular phones, and countless types of Internet-capable devices are increasingly prevalent in numerous aspects of modern life, and are becoming a significant type of device with which headphones are used. Over time, the manner in which these devices are providing information to users is becoming more intelligent, more efficient, more intuitive, and/or less obtrusive. The trend toward miniaturization of computing hardware, peripherals, as well as of sensors, detectors, and image and audio processors, among other technologies, has helped open up a field sometimes referred to as “wearable computing.” In the area of image and visual processing and production, in particular, it has become possible to consider wearable displays that place a graphic display close enough to a wearer's (or user's) eye(s) such that the displayed image appears as a normal-sized image, such as might be displayed on a traditional image display device. The relevant technology may be referred to as “near-eye displays.”
Wearable computing devices with near-eye displays may also be referred to as “head-mountable displays”, “head-mounted displays,” “head-mounted devices,” or “head-mountable devices.” A head-mountable device (“HMD”) places a graphic display or displays close to one or both eyes of a wearer. To generate the images on a display, a computer processing system may be used. Such displays may occupy a wearer's entire field of view, or only occupy part of wearer's field of view. Further, head-mounted displays may vary in size, taking a smaller form such as a glasses-style display or a larger form such as a helmet, for example.
Both head-mounted and heads-up displays can be connected to a video source that receives a video signal that the device can read and convert into the image that they present to the user. The video source can be received from a portable device such as a video player, a portable media player or computers. Some such display devices are also configured to receive sound signals, which can be delivered to the user typically through various types of headphones. However, the form-factors employed by such displays can present challenges when attempted to be used with existing headphones or similar devices.